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01-04-2006

LTTE has no rights at sea: Haukland

By Shakuntala Perera

The outgoing Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Chief, Hagrup Haukland yesterday said the LTTE had absolutely no right to the sea.

He said LTTE threats of serious consequences ofits sea movement was restricted could be mere rhetoric, but even rhetoric has a way of turning dangerous and blowing up beyond control.

In an exclusive interview with the ‘Daily Mirror’ just days before leaving the country, Mr. Haukland said:

“The waters around the entire island are controlled by the Sri Lanka Navy. The Sea Tigers have no right to the sea, but the LTTE has never accepted it.

According to internationally accepted standards we can’t have another naval force at sea and that is a problem we are facing now. But I don’t want to go into details because it is dangerous and can escalate”.

He said he was concerned about recent LTTE threats of serious consequences if the Navy was to prevent its movements in the sea.

On Thursday LTTE Trincomalee leader, Elilan informed the SLMM that any attempt to restrict LTTE sea movement would pose serious consequences to the Navy.

“I am very concerned. In a way this is rhetoric, but rhetoric can be very dangerous. But if you say something too many times people tend to believe it. But the LTTE have absolutely no rights in the sea”, Mr. Haukland asserted.

He said though both the government and the LTTE were preparing for war, neither party was willing to start it.

“Both parties are preparing for war. That’s the nature of the situation. But if you ask them they will say no. But they are preparing and that’s natural and there’s nothing special there. It’s important to be aware of the balance of power. I’m convinced that neither the President, nor the LTTE, nor any other national leaders want a new war because it will be devastating and they know it. The incidents of December and January made me think the Ceasefire is gone. But it survived. That shows both sides want a peaceful solution. There is no military solution here” he said.

He said he hoped the peace talks would be held in April, and warned of a serious deterioration in the ground situation after the talks were suspended in 2003.

“That is the worse period we experienced since we arrived. The situation has gradually deteriorated after the peace talks suspended in March 2003. Since then there was a lot of mistrust.

The ceasefire is not a permanent solution. You need a lasting peace, which is why I hope the second round of talks will take place”, he said.He also warned that any failure by the government to disarm the militant groups would pose a grave threat.

“The split in the LTTE was the most serious blow to the peace process. The situation would have been quite different if it didn’t happen. We have no evidence to show the army is harbouring these groups, but if they are it is a very big mistake. What I fear is if the LTTE says it wants to settle it themselves. That will make a delicate situation even more dangerous” he said.

Mr. Haukland said there was an urgent need for the two parties to meet at the highest political level.

“They know this more than I do. They should not postpone it any further because there is high expectation from the ordinary people. If it is delayed this time, I feel the process will deteriorate further. I hope and pray they will decide to meet.

“The facilitators will try their utmost to convince the two parties to meet. As the outgoing SLMM Head, I strongly recommend them to meet. There have been skirmishes during the last week. This is a bit alarming”, he added.

Source-Daily Mirror